“Because I Love You”

healthy relationships are hard to find,

let alone define;

an idea so vast and vague,

construed in such different ways,

because depending on the person, the word “healthy”

can mean everything and nothing all at once.

I vow to have a candlelit taco dinner with you at least twice a week,

thrice if you’re feeling a fiesta.

and as your face is illuminated by the candle’s warmth,

it is reflective of your wholehearted smile

as you ask me how I’m wrangling my bad habits;

puffing cigarettes and drinking milk straight from the carton, 

I’ll see your eager eyes awaiting my response.

avoiding your expectant gaze,

I’ll suggest we drop the subject in exchange for a Harry Potter marathon.

so our dirty dishes remain abandoned in the kitchen sink,

like the conversations you say tend to make me overthink.

we’ll lay together on our torn up couch, 

talking along with the films we’ve seen time and time again;

and as I drift off in the early hours of the morning,

you only tighten your grasp around my frame.

just as it feels I’ve dozed off,

you're shaking me awake so I can mentally prepare myself 

for the day at hand,

where I scrape the bottom of the barrel just to earn a few bucks.

you'll help me reach a bowl for my oatmeal on top shelf,

tousle my hair,

and call me “squirt”.

where some may take offense, 

i can’t help but smile,

because you accept my quirks;

you make love worth while.